DataPoint: New Nursing Home Occupancy Dashboard

(June 4, 2024) LeadingAge NY has developed a streamlined way for members to compare their nursing home occupancy with that of other homes and regional medians over time. The nursing home occupancy dashboard enables users to visualize and compare their facility-specific occupancy rates with the Department of Health (DOH) region of their choosing, any home located in NYS, or both. Occupancy rates were calculated by sourcing nursing homes’ census data reported through the daily Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) survey and dividing it by the certified bed count in the DOH Nursing Home Profile for the corresponding month. Regional occupancy rates reflect the monthly median rate for each of the seven DOH regions. If the selected home has an occupancy rate of 0 percent in any given month, this is either because they did not submit their census data or the facility has closed.

Nursing home occupancy continues to recover slowly, approaching pre-pandemic levels. Statewide median occupancy for April 2024 was 92.15 percent, up from 91.46 percent one year ago. Median occupancy in most upstate regions is near 90 percent, while the NYC median is 95.5 percent. The Long Island region saw the largest change during the last 12 months, with the median increasing from 87.38 percent to 91.87 percent. Note that the available data does not make it possible to discern how much the occupancy rate is influenced by beds that may be offline due to staffing shortages or other considerations. Click here to access the tool.

Contact: Eric Dumas, edumas@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383